The Mentor Experiment
by Tres Mechante
Summary: An insult, an experiment, and a little revenge. Greg may regret offering to help Grissom with a simulation. GS interlude. Unbound challenge response.


**The Mentor Experiment**  
By Tres Mechante 

**Summary:** An insult, an experiment, and a little revenge. Greg may regret offering to help Grissom with a simulation. G/S interlude. Response to _Unbound_ improv challenge.

**Disclaimer: **CSI, their characters and universe do not belong to me in any way, shape or form. I am not stealing the characters, merely playing with them. The only profit derived from this story is the opportunity to indulge in a bit of silliness.

**A/N:** This is a response to a challenge at _Unbound_. The first and last lines were provided. All I had to do was fill in the space between those lines. **Fluffy, possibly even absurd.**

* * *

"Don't hurt yourself." Greg hurried down the hall to take the box from Grissom. 

Grissom glared at Greg but said nothing.

"Oh hey, Grissom, I didn't mean anything by that," said a breathless Greg as he carried the box into the back lab. "Uh, where do you want me to put this?"

Opting not to give the obvious answer, he merely pointed to a table against the wall.

Greg set down the box and hovered uncertainly by the table.

Grissom was tempted to dismiss Greg, but he had promised to mentor him and that was what he would do – he refused to disappoint Sara.

zzzzz zzzzz zzzzz

_It started innocently enough, as it always did – breakfast, conversation, lingering looks, a few gentle touches. At one point Sara went to the bookcase in search of a particular journal. She reached up high, causing her top to ride up, exposing an enticing strip of skin along her lower back. He had gotten up and gone to her, standing close behind her and spanning her waist with his hands._

"_Hey! Hands off, we're supposed to be discussing work," she said._

"_I'll have you know I'm a very hands-on kind of supervisor," he retorted, pressing kissing along her neck._

"_Yeah, well that's what I wanted to talk to you about." She pulled a journal off the shelf and tried to point out an article to Grissom, who had better things to focus on. "Would you please pay attention Mr. Hands-On Supervisor?"_

_Grissom sighed and rested his chin on her shoulder. "You have my full and undivided attention CSI Sidle. I'm all ears."_

"_Well, not _all_ ears," she chuckled as she leaned back. She then proceeded to give an outline of the article on the importance of mentor relationships for CSI interns. "It's important Gris. Greg learns a lot from the rest of out when we take him with us, but he needs to learn from you, too."_

_Grissom sighed heavily. "I'll try. He's just so excitable at times. It's like being around a damn puppy." _

"_And another thing – stop scaring Greg."_

"_I don't scare him." At Sara's snort of disbelief, he amended "well not on purpose – most of the time."_

"_Grissom."_

"_I'll try to take him under my wing. I promise."_

zzzzz zzzzz zzzzz

As Greg turned to leave Grissom called him back. "What do you have on the go right now, Greg?"

"I'm just trying to keep busy while I'm waiting for some results – man, it is _weird_ being on this side of the analysis wait. Warrick is still at a B&E with Sara, but I'm supposed to help go over the truck from the hit and run when he gets back. I know a bit about cars and stuff, but haven't actually processed one yet." Greg finally ran out of breath.

"Then since you have some free time I would appreciate your help with an experiment relating to the Shaw homicide."

Greg's eyes lit up. He looked like a little kid who'd been told he could peek into Santa's workshop. Clearing his throat to cover a laugh, Grissom turned away saying, "Please get the file and room schematics from the box?"

Grissom walked toward the far wall, motioning Greg to follow. Holding one end of a measuring tape, he asked Greg help him mark out a space corresponding to the crime scene.

Together they recreated the size and shape of the room where the homicide took place. Once the area was marked off they began moving the walls into position. Grissom then had him help move furniture into place – everything according to the crime scene photos.

Greg watched as Grissom wrestled the last large piece into place. "You sure have a lot of stamina," he said. "I know I'm in pretty good shape but I'm getting tired. Where do you get all that energy?"

Grissom turned away to hide a smirk. Sara had said much the same thing to him that morning. Of course the context had been completely different, he thought in satisfaction. When he told her passion for what he loved was the secret, Sara had kissed him senseless before testing the limits of that energy.

As the crime scene reproduction was completed, Greg asked questions and commented on everything they did, almost bouncing around like a hyperactive puppy.

Grissom had had enough, but was mindful of his promise to mentor.

"Okay Greg that should do it. I appreciate the help. You might want to check if Warrick is back yet," said Grissom as he looked over the scene.

"He'll page me. So what do we do next?"

"You know, Greg, doing these re-creations is not quite the same as doing experiments in your lab. Definitive answers are not always obvious at first and the relevant variables are often difficult to identify." Grissom looked over the top of his glasses at Greg, who was hanging on his every word. "And sometimes it is necessary to make sacrifices in the quest for truth."

"That sounds profound," Greg commented as Grissom turned back toward the box on the workbench. "I really do want to help. Please? I won't get in the way but I want to see this through and understand the process. I'm ready for anything. Do with me as you will."

Grissom nodded his agreement as he turned with an angelic smile on his face and a large knife in his hand. "Great, now I have to kill you."

_**--END--**_


End file.
